Paul Hobbs buys Goldrock Ridge vineyard

Sebastopol vintner Paul Hobbs has purchased the Goldrock Ridge vineyard near Annapolis, one of the more well-regarded places in Sonoma County for growing pinot noir grapes.

Hobbs bought the 42-acre vineyard from CalPERS, the retirement system for public workers in California, as it gradually divests its vineyard holdings. At its height, CalPERS had more than 25 vineyards, but now it only owns one vineyard, along the Central Coast.

Financial terms were not disclosed. Zepponi and Co. business consulting firm served as the adviser to CalPERS.

Hobbs said he was thrilled to buy the land in the Sonoma Coast wine region. It is five miles from the ocean, and at a height of 550 feet rises just above the fog line to provide a cooler climate for growing the finicky pinot noir grape. Four acres are devoted to chardonnay.

He intends to experiment with different rootstock and clones, along with a growing practice that will include no herbicides. “I really want to push the limits,” Hobbs said. “You aren’t going to develop a property like that ever again.”

Patz & Hall in Sonoma, MacRostie Winery and Vineyards in Healdsburg, and Paul Hobbs winery in Sebastopol have sourced grapes from the vineyard. Hobbs said that fruit will be now be sourced to his Paul Hobbs brand for a Sonoma Coast estate pinot program, but he has not made a decision yet on whether to sell some of the grapes to others in the future.

Hobbs said he was not the first buyer of the property during the bidding. He succeeded after the first unnamed bidder could not complete escrow during the due diligence period. Vineyard prices along the Sonoma Coast have jumped in recent years, and now fetch from $150,000 to $200,000 an acre for some top spots, experts say.

Hobbs joins a group of small, premium, independent vintners, including Bill Price of Price Family Vineyards and Estates and Alex Guarachi of Guarachi Family Wines, vying to secure the top remaining vineyard acreage in the North Coast amid a dearth of new, available land.

He has faced criticism for past projects. Hobbs last year paid $100,000 to settle a civil lawsuit brought by Sonoma County prosecutors alleging environmental and land-use violations in three vineyard conversion projects.